When I reach a milestone I like to do a top ten, just for fun. Today’s milestone sees me reaching 400 posts.

Being June it seems apt to write about my favourite summer scents, although if I was guessing the month by the weather, I would probably think it was November. It’s hard to choose ten favourite summer scents. As soon as I complete the list, I think of another ten and I have to rearrange them all again as if I’m doing a seating plan at a small wedding. The other factor of course is that British weather is so very changeable. As soon as I dust off the astringent colognes, the sky goes dark and the winds go chilly so I’m dusting off the winter stuff again. Here I am talking as if I ever put any of my perfumes away ever! Of course I don’t, and it’s just as well as I’m looking out at a very gloomy damp day here in Wales.

However, I have managed to cull it down to ten, which doesn’t mean that I don’t love about fifty or so others, but you can’t go far too wrong with the following mash-up. Do let me know if you agree or if you have a favourite yourself. I love to hear from you.

1. Chanel Cristalle

To me, Chanel Cristalle is the definitive classy green scent. I’ve worn it for two decades and I never tire of it. In fact its mossy base is just as good in winter. My review is here.

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2. O de Lancome

O de Lancome fizzes like lemonade on my skin and smells like summer in a bottle. It’s all bergamot and mosses and leaves and stems and citruses. What more can we ask for in a summer perfume? Lasting power is also excellent. My review is here.

3. Un Jardin en Mediterranee

Since fig seems to flourish in the continental heat, you can’t go far wrong with Un Jardin en Mediterranee in summer. Created by Jean Claude Ellena, everything has his characteristic lightness of touch. As a result, this is thirst quenchingly good ,with a fruitiness that works well in chilled wine too. My review is here.

4. Eau D’Epices

A Tauer spice with dewdrops in it. Similar to L’Air du Desert Marocain, there is something about the Eau in Eau D’Epices that means this is never too heavy on a hot day. It lasts from dawn til dusk too. My review is here.

I’m a recent convert to Eau de Sisley 1 having reviewed just last week. Totally unisex, this is earthy and fresh at the same time. Longevity is excellent. My review is here.

7. Muelhens original 4711

When budgets forbid and profligacy is out of the question, you can never go wrong with this steadfast classic. I never tire of 4711 Original and wish more people would wear it.

8. Elizabeth Arden Green Tea

Elizabeth Arden Green Tea, and its many good flankers, are often available for under a tenner, the combination of Green Tea and Bergamot cuts through the heat. Longevity isn’t brilliant, but the price permits frequent resprays without breaking the bank.

One thing’s for sure. Having spent a few days alone with this, I can now Fig spot from ten feet away.

telegraph.co.uk

To me, Fig is rich and creamy with heavy green notes around the edges. The fruitiness is like smelling the dried fruit of a Christmas cake before you add it to the mix. Fig equals Sultanas, Milk and green leafery. However there is one caveat that stops me fully embracing the figginess of Premier Figuier. There is to my nose, an animalic or musky note that vividly reminds me of a scene in my life many years ago. No names, no pack drill. Gather round for a fireside story with ole IScentYouADay.

Many moons ago I knew someone who had sterling family ancestry, pots of money and was quite the aristocrat. However, he had the most appalling personal hygiene. So shocking was it, that the entire abode in which he lived smelled to High Heaven. Clothes, furniture and air carried the unwashed stench around from room to room and even onto the street when the door was open. This man, who was terribly nice, and is massively unlikely to be reading this (I hope), had a girlfriend who doused herself in Guerlain Samsara. You may notice I have never reviewed Samsara.

The end result is that despite Samsara having no fig, Premier Figuier reminds me of that brief window in time when my nose was trying to divide the musk of stale BO from the Green, fruity rich Samsara.

This is in no way the fault of this lovely Fig perfume, since Premier Figuier is beautifully put together. There are many non fig notes listed: Asfoetida, Fruity notes, Fig leaf, and Sandalwood.

But all I can smell is Fig and Musk, and that rather fetid London Spring of 94.

Some fragrance is so good that if you did not know the name of it and a stranger walked by wearing it, you would follow the stranger home until they surrendered the name of the beautiful aura that surrounds them.

I would follow a stranger home like a stray dog for Hermes Un Jardin en Mediterranee. How nice, that just a week after I wrote my Dear John letter to Iris that I should meet and fall in love with Fig within a day. Fickle? Oh yes. Like a widow on the make at a wake.

I love fig. I’ve never tried it before it (I know, shocking), but now I want to try EVERYTHING fig.

Un Jardin opens with a quick and dirty boozy waft, almost like Rum and Raisin. Then when that burns off, you are left with a citrussy green aroma that is as pretty as the scent of a passion fruit, yet without any sickliness. In fact passion fruit is the nearest thing I could think of to describe fig. The perfumed aroma of a passion fruit, just opened, is a masterpiece of nature. It is aromatic and natural and well, it smells like perfume. And so it is with fig. Both green and milky at the same time, this reminds me both of fresh dates and clean, leafy notes simultaneously.

This is a grown up’s perfume- I’d be surprised ( and delighted) if I smelled this on anyone under 25. There are similarities between this and Kelly Caleche, also by Jean Claude Ellena, in that there is a green “polished leather” note surrounded by petals that is common to both.

It has curious notes which make a refreshing change from the usual: Pistachio and Oleander, and Red Cedar and Cypress. Yet if I had to describe this without looking at notes, I would have said that this is Kelly Caleche with a punchy, rich middle, like drops of amber that melt on the tongue.

This is the kind of fragrant moment that stops me in my tracks. From a casual “can I try this?” to a glazed eye robotic “I Must Buy. I Must Buy”, Un Jardin en Mediterranee had me entranced. For a perfume blogger, I don’t have many full sized bottles. Only a few have caused me to fall in love quickly and have given me the Must Have feeling: Eau de Cartier, Sarah Jessica Parker Lovely, and Balmain Jolie Madame are good examples. Un Jardin is now another.

Jean Claude Ellena has mixed it seamlessly, with his trademark watercolour style, making the aroma a perfect dream of a light summer fig through smoked glass.

Hermes Un Jardin en Mediterranee is Sheer Heaven. Nose glued to wrist. I feel sorry for whatever I review next since it will have a lot to live up to.

PS My seven year old son adores this and calls it awesome. He’s got taste, like his mother.